In a bid to boost the COVID-19 vaccination drive in India, Prime Minister during his meeting with the Chief Minister of states over the Covid situation had urged the state governments to observe Tika Utsav from April 11 to April 14. Despite many states facing a shortage in the vaccines, on Day 1 of Tika Utsav, more than 27 lakh vaccine doses were administered, till 8 pm today.
'Tika Utsav' in Goa received an enthusiastic response on the first day on Sunday with 8,189 people above the age of 45 years getting the COVID-19 jabs, while national capital Delhi vaccinated over one-lakh people in a day
The PM had said, "In these four days, we have to make every effort to achieve our goals at the individual level, at the society level and at the administration level."
Asserting that the 'tika utsav', a vaccination drive between April 11 and 14, marks the beginning of the another major war on COVID-19, PM Narendra Modi on Sunday made several suggestions to people on curbing the virus and urged them to focus on personal and social hygiene. In a blog addressed to the countrymen, he urged them to remember four things, including "each one, vaccinate one"- helping those getting vaccinated who are less educated and elderly and who cannot go for the jab themselves, and "each one, treat one"- helping those who do not have the means or do not know about the facilities available for vaccination.
He also spoke of "each one, save one", saying emphasis should on wearing mask so as to save oneself and others too. He asked families and members of the society to take lead in setting up micro containment zones in case anyone gets the infectious disease, saying this is an important way to fight the disease in a densely populated country like India.
In the event of detection of a single positive case, it is very important for all of us to be alert and to test the rest of the people, he said. "Our success will be determined by our awareness of the micro containment zone. Our success will be determined by not leaving the house when there is no need. Our success will also depend on whether we wear masks and follow other rules," he said, adding that it will also depend on getting those eligible for vaccine inoculated.
Anyone eligible for the vaccine should get the jab, and for this the society and administration have to make full efforts, he added. Pitching for "zero vaccine waste", he said it has to be ensured that not a single jab is wasted. "We have to move towards optimum utilisation of the country's vaccination capacity. This is a way to augment our capacity," he said.
Hitting another record daily high of 1,52,879 new coronavirus infections, India's COVID-19 tally of cases climbed to 1,33,58,805, while the active cases breached the 11-lakh mark for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Sunday.
The death toll increased to 1,69,275 with 839 daily new fatalities, the highest since October 18, 2020, the data updated at 8 am showed.
(With agency inputs)
